Former Naples star DB Devin Moore ready for junior season with Gators

From soaring high with the Naples High School Golden Eagles to now making plays for the Florida Gators, defensive back Devin Moore is entering his junior season.

“Naples has had a tremendous amount of success and I was lucky to be a part of that,” Moore said. “So you know just taking the things I learned from the program and you know just applying it to a team like this you know you can’t ask for anything else. And just being able to represent all the teammates I played with. All the people that came before me at Naples you know just continuing to withhold that standard that was developed at Naples you know is extremely important.”

Injuries have plagued Moore during his first two seasons in Gainesville. He even suffered a season ending injury as a freshman.

“In every hardship I feel like you can find some positive things to pull out of it,” Moore explained. “You know in that time I was away. You know just watching the game I learned so much. You know talking to other people while they’re playing the game. Learning from the mistakes they make and previous ones I’ve made and really fine tune it.”

Heading into the 2024 season, a priority for Moore was to do what he can to stay on the field.

“During the offseason, I did everything I can to prehab you know just work on my body,” Moore said. “Make sure I’m in the best position to be healthy and stay healthy.”

Moore is ready to show that work on Saturday against the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes in a sold out Swamp.

“It holds a lot of weight to this game so you know being able to kick it off with this one, even more excitement,” Moore said.

When Moore was recruited out of Naples High School, he knew what he wanted out of his college experience.

“I always wanted to play for my home state,” Moore answered. “And you know stay close to home so my parents could come watch the games with family and friends and all that.”

Moore was part of head coach Billy Napier’s first recruiting class in Gainesville in 2022.

“I really felt the connection with him,” Moore explained. “I liked the idea and the approach he had to the University of Florida. And I just talked it over with my parents they felt the same thing.”

Moore shared how he’s seen the program change since he got on campus, “Year after year more guys buying in like influencing each other. You know spending more time with each other. Like it’s really the small things. This is one of the closest teams I’ve been on for sure.”

Moore has a piece of advice for those players in Southwest Florida watching him and wanting to play big time college football

“If you care about it enough, you got to be a little crazy about it,” Moore shared. “You know no matter how many times you mess up, keep getting up. Keep going to work. How can I improve on this? Even when you do do it right, how can I improve on this? That’s even more important.”